Olympic Swimmer Accuses Former USA Swimming Coach of Sexual Abuse

Leticia Riley |Saturday, February 10, 2018

Olympian accuses ex-swim coach in Seattle of sexually abusing her when she was 16

Investigators have searched the Seattle home of a former United States swimming Olympic coach amid allegations that he sexually abused and took explicit photos of a world champion when she was underage. One of Ariana Kukors's attorneys, Bob Allard, compared Hutchinson to former U.S. gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

Police said the suspect under investigation was the victim's swim coach during the time; however, police did not identify Hutchison as the suspect.

She told officers that he kissed and touched her when she was 16 and engaged in sexual activity with her when she was 17 at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Victoria, British Columbia, the document said. He has not been charged with a crime.

Homeland Security taskforce investigators along with police in Washington state served a search warrant at 46-year-old Sean Hutchison's Seattle apartment on Tuesday, recovering electronic devices they say may contain evidence, the SeattlePI reported.

In a statement from an agency representing Kukors released Wednesday, Kukors says Hutchison started child "grooming" her - a practice used by child predators to gain a victim's trust - when she was 13 years old after he became her coach at KING Aquatic Club in Federal Way.

"I never thought I would share my story because, in so many ways, just surviving was enough", the statement said. But in time, I've realized that stories like my own are too important to go unwritten.

USA Swimming said it conducted a full investigation in 2010 when it became aware of a "rumored relationship" between Hutchison and Kukors.

Ariana Kukors prepares to compete in the women's 200m IM final during the 2012 Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on May 13, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

When the swimming events ended in London, Hutchison made sure she returned home, missing the closing ceremony, because "in Sean's eyes, I had been selfish enough", she wrote.

"Prior to that time, I did nothing to 'groom" her. The group was one of three U.S. Olympic Committee Professional and Post-Graduate Training Groups. Swimming had been given notice in 2010 about the inappropriate coach-athlete relationship but had done nothing.

"Now with the benefit of hindsight and time, one would have to question whether there was any integrity to the first time they did this investigation", he said. The federation says it conducted an investigation with a private investigator that included interviews with Hutchison, Kukors and Kukors' sister Emily.

Hutchison said that the two had a "committed relationship" after the 2012 Olympics.

He met Ms. Kukors when he was a coach at King Aquatic Club in Seattle, according to Ms. Kukors's statement.

"Ariana Kukors' recent public statement marked the first time USA Swimming learned of the allegations that Sean Hutchison sexually abused Ariana when she was a minor".

Hutchison worked as an assistant coach under Paul Bergen at the Tualatin Hills Swim Club outside Portland early in his career. She says Hutchison was partly why she retired in 2010. "I wish I had", she said, adding that dating is common among coaches and their athletes in the sport, especially in Europe.

The investigation began January 23 when police in the Seattle suburb of Des Moines got a report about sex crimes at its city pool.

She wrote Friday that she and Hutchison didn't have intercourse before she turned 18. On the recommendation of victims' advocates, she said she is now coming forward with the help of her attorneys, Robert Allard and Ray Mendoza. "Not for the sake of you knowing my story, but for the little girls and boys whose lives and future hangs in the grasp of a horribly powerful and manipulative person", Kukors said.

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